Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-08-18
cRoWNER's QUEST.

The Efforts of the Coroner and an IntoAn-
gent Jury to Discover the Cause Of the
Recent Railway Djsaster-Suspicious CIR
cumstances Leading to q Theory oiIrahn-
| Wrecking.
CHArswoRrH, ILL.,, Aug. ia coroner's
jury Of exceptional intelligence, with Post.
master w. W. Sears as foreman, entered
yesterday upon the task of endeavoring to
discover whether the catastrophe of Thurs
day morning was due to accident or de-
| sign. Horrible and incredible as the latter
theory may seem at first, it is nevertheless
true that it has many supporters among
the residents of Chatsworth, and it is also
upheld by some of the leading officials of
the road, Certain it is, however, that the
evidence taken yesterday pointed more
strongly to the probabilities that train
wreckers were at the bottom of the horror,
than to the original idea that the bridge
over the culvert had been set on hre py the
burning grass beneath.
In the preliminary testimony yesterday
morning the fact was developed that in
order to insure the safety OF the train,
which was the heaviest that had ever gone
/ over the road, orders had been issued to
| the foremen of the various sections to
make a careful examination of the track
and culverts on Wednesday afternoon.
That portion of the road on which the ac-
cident occurred was in charge of Timothy
| Coughlin and what he told the jury was
brief and to the point. He had gone over
| the road and examined the bridge over the
culvert of death within half dozen
hours of midnight on Wednes-
| day. He found it in good.
condition. There were nc signs of fire. In.
fact there was nothing to burn. The fields
all around had been recently moved, and
no longer than a week ago all the grass
I L f.,,,v, sfr1nf
into the soil on purpose to ensure the
safety of the timbers and the track which
rested upon them.
Roadmaster Ennis, who went over the
trestle on hand-car later in the evening",
swore that it was sound and strong.
Then William Hellam, a well do
farmer living in the neighborhood, was
called to the stand, and told story that
created sensation. He said that while
standing on the platform at Chatsworth
waiting, with his son, for the Inflated
train, he repeatedly saw peculiar light
upon the track in the neighborhood Of
where the train subsequently went down.
At first he thought it was a fire, but from
it's disappearance and temperance at in
tervals during period Of three hours, he
came to- the conclusion that somebody was
swinging lantern or that locomotive
was moving to and fro. This was kept up
until little while before the train was due
at Chatsworth, and seemed to him so re-
markable that he called the attention of
several people around him to the fact.
Hellam's statement was corroborated by
his son, who, with his father, got on
board the train and barely escaped with
their lives, and by julius Koplke, farm
er, living within quarter of a mile OF the.
track, who saw what seemed to be small
fire near the culvert shortly before mid
night.
j. Brown and Thomas Brown, bankers of
Chatsworth, corroborated the testimony of
previous witnesses regarding the peculiar
light seen near the bridge shortly before
the accident.
Tobinski and Kobaske two section
hands, swore that they burned all the
weeds and grass near the bridge on Friday
of last week; that on the afternoon Of the
accident they were doing the same work
forty rods from the bridge; that they
passed over the culvert, and that there
was nothing burning,or any thing there to
burn.
Michael Kobaske, another section hand,
was next called. Just as he was about to
be sworn the other Kobaske whispered into
his ear several words in Polish. The re-
suit was that the witness showed a re-
markable faculty for testifying to the
same story as told by his namesake, while
his memory showed considerable weak
ness when questioned as to the possibility
of there having been any fire at the bridge,
without his seeing it.
On cross-examination he admitted that.
all three were in a car near the bridge on
the fatal night. 1t was evident from the
demeanor of the jurymen that the testi-
mony of the three Polanders was anything
but satisfactory.
Testimony pointing in the same direc-
tion was given by several other witnesses
before the inquiry was adjourned. Those
who hold the theory of train-wrecking be-
lieve that there was an organized
gang of thieves on board the train, and
that the bridge was destroyed by confed-
crates as the result of O well-laid plot.
In support of this theory numerous stories
of the robbing of the dead and injured are
being passed from mouth to mouth, but
the mouths of the dead are closed, and the
injured who are cited can not be found
either here OF Piper City. Develop
ments II this connection, however, are
promised before the end OF the present in
vestigation, and it would not be surprising
if the jury in it's verdict should fix the re-
sponsibility for the disaster upon some
person or persons unknown, and leave the
railroad company or the county free to-
use their own discretion in following up
the matter to an end.
More people were in Chatsworth yester-
day than ever before in its history. Stand
ing room even on the platforms of the in
coming trains was at premium, and two
thirds of the farmers, within a radius Of
fifteen miles, brought in their wives and
families. 1t was sad throng. The row
of rough pine collins which occupied two
thirds of the depot platform, and the erie
and groans of the injured in the impro-
vised hospital q few feet away had de
pressing effect on the visitors. Hundreds
of them went down to the scene of the
wreck and stood for hours in the broiling
sun watching the work of clearing the
track and rebuilding the bridge. Hun
dreds more besieged the hospital, and
crowded into the narrow aisles between
the cots with such persistence that it was
found necessary to station guards outside
to keep them at distance.
Inside the scenes were distressing in the
extreme. There were twenty-five patients
equally divided as to sex. OF these Julia
Valdejo, of Peoria, suffered the greatest
agony. All that medical science could do
was done for the wealthy Peoria ORPHAN
but without avail, and yesterday after
noon she died.
Reckless Shooting.
DIES MONIES, Ia, Aug. 13-Constables
Potts Yesterday afternoon served warrant
upon Thomas Hardy in whose barn he had
found a keg of beer. Hardy, who was
70 liking with a friend at the time, told the